Beautiful Stranger
by dfriendly
Summary: The mission was simple: locate Uther Pendragon's son in the hotel bar, be taken up to his room, acquire the files, and deliver them to the agency. Spy AU. And oh-so cracky :D GwenxArthur


**Title:** Beautiful Stranger

**Fandom:** _Merlin_

**Characters/Pairings:** Gwen aka Agent Blacksmith aka "Vivian"/Arthur, Gaius aka the Physician

**Rating:** R

**Word Count:** 1,030

**Disclaimer:** If I owned _Merlin_, I would keep it off the streets and away from this type of crack and other bad influences.

**Summary:** The mission was simple: locate Uther Pendragon's son in the hotel bar, be taken up to his room, acquire the files, and deliver them to the agency. Spy AU. And oh-so cracky :D

**Author's notes:** Written for Drabble Challenge 5 at the LJ comm ag_fic. The challenge's theme was "AU". This got first place – thanks, guys!

Brit-picked by LJ user mydoctortennant. Many thanks to her :)

The title is from the song of the same name by Madonna. (After looking at songs about spies and then James Bond songs, it occurred to me to look at Austin Powers soundtracks… *shrugs*) I can't decide whether Gwen or Arthur is the beautiful stranger. Maybe they both are?

FYI, flunitrazepam is a sedative (aka roofie, from the brand name 'Rohypnol') infamous for being used as a date rape drug (though that's not the purpose in this fic). It can cause semi to full unconsciousness, memory blackouts, and disorientation upon awakening.

llllllllll

The mission was simple: locate Uther Pendragon's son in the hotel bar, be taken up to his room, acquire the files, and deliver them to the agency. But if she'd learned anything in the spy game, it was that missions never go according to plan.

Because even though she was supposed to be the one seducing him, she was beginning to suspect he was seducing her.

That was the only way to explain how she'd ended up on the bed, the sedatives she'd intended on dosing him with long forgotten in her clutch. And how she didn't stop him from unzipping her cocktail dress and sliding it down her legs, leaving her in just a thong and heels.

He flashed her that same winning smile that had made her falter earlier in the bar. And for whatever stupid reason, she had decided to wait with drugging him… just in case they dallied downstairs too long and the flunitrazepam started taking affect. Instead they'd go up to his room, order some room service, she'd pay a visit to the bathroom to 'freshen up' and then put it in the champagne before anything happened.

But once again, the plan changed. The warmth of his hand had seared into the small of her back as he led her out of the bar. Then the elevator had been empty, giving him no reason not to bend down and growl in her ear, "You didn't give me your name."

"Vivian," she'd said back, repressing a shiver at the tone of his voice.

He'd grinned. "I wouldn't have taken you as a Vivian."

She'd laughed and taken hold of his tie, pulling him into a kiss she'd never meant to give him.

Then it had been a stumble down the hall to his room and onto the bed, all reminding her of just how long it had been since she'd had sex.

Soon he was just as naked as she was, kissing her neck and sliding into her. She keened and pulled him deeper, covering his resultant groan with her mouth and biting his lip as he thrust faster.

She was just working with the situation, as was part of her job, she reasoned. It would have been suspicious given the progress of events if she _didn't_ sleep with him the moment they got through the door. This had absolutely nothing to do with personal gratification.

…Despite her earth-shattering orgasm when his fingers slipped between their bodies.

He fell asleep almost immediately, meaning she'd have to wait to look for the file – she wasn't going to risk him being a light sleeper.

So when he got up the next morning to take a shower, the sound of the water turning on was her signal to start searching his room. First she tried his briefcase, but of course he wasn't a complete fool. Second was the hotel safe, which breaking into was child's play with the right equipment from her purse. All it had was some cash and his passport, proving that he knew better than to trust the security of a cheap safe.

Then between his clothes in the drawers, under the mattress, behind picture frames…

She had to give up the search once the shower turned off. The drugs would just have to go into his morning tea. So she snuck back under the covers, prepared to bat her eyelashes at him and suggest they order breakfast before (or maybe after) they have a repeat of last night.

He came out of the bathroom, looking entirely too attractive wet and with just a towel around his waist. In his hands… was a file.

"You didn't check behind the toilet cistern," he sneered, throwing it onto the bed.

She didn't react – just like she was trained to do – merely raising her eyebrows in confusion instead of gaping at him the way any normal person might.

"What?" he snapped. "Does your agency not trust me enough that they need to _steal_ my files instead of asking me to hand the damn things over myself?"

"Pardon?"

"I contacted your people two weeks ago about turning against my father. And I have to say their lack of confidence in me doesn't bode well for my willingness to work with them."

She studied him for a moment: open hands, facial expression not limited to his mouth, looking her straight in the eyes. He was angry, and perhaps even hurt; but his body language suggested that he wasn't lying.

"I only do what I'm told," she replied evenly.

He scoffed. "Glad to know I don't just have to worry about women sleeping with me solely because of my money. I can add following orders to the list."

She scooted down to the foot of the bed, reaching for her purse and tossing the small plastic bag from inside on top of the file.

"One of these was supposed to go in your drink last night," she said, nodding to the capsules.

"Then why wasn't one in there?"

"It just wasn't."

She got up and calmly slipped on her dress, knowing he was watching her. Her knickers, along with the sedatives, went into her purse and the file placed inside the room service menu to carry out discreetly. Last she picked up her heels.

"So how did you know who I was?"

"I was a little suspicious. So I turned on the water before getting in and saw you going through my things."

She nodded. "Smart. More than I expected from a corporate idiot."

He rolled his eyes as she turned toward the door.

"Is your name even Vivian?"

"No."

And she left.

lll

Five days later the Physician handed her a thick file.

"Your new mission, Agent Blacksmith."

She opened it and swallowed. "Arthur Pendragon again?"

"We had him in yesterday to tell us everything he knows – or _says_ he knows – about his father's side-business. It isn't much, since he claims to have found out about it only recently."

"I doubt he's ever held a gun, let alone learned how to beat a polygraph."

The Physician shrugged. "Well he's agreed to work for us and now you're in charge of him."


End file.
